Painfully Silent
by Child-Of-God13
Summary: Bella has been mute since birth. When her mother grows worried about Bella's aversion to the world Renee sends her to Forks. What happens when Bella meets the Cullens? Will anyone ever break into her lonely world? All Human.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 1

Rain always brings on a depressing feel-almost a prediction of imminent death. At least it did for her. She just didn't have the words to tell anyone how the rain made her feel. She didn't have the words to tell anyone anything; she lived in an everlasting curse of silence.

Which is why, when her mother sent her away to the town of Forks, she had no idea how depressed her daughter really was.

Isabella Swan was as gorgeous as the sun and the moon; even the stars would bow at her feet. A flawless face, with the most gorgeous and intriguing eyes anyone could have ever seen. Though she only stood at the height of five foot four inches, she had modest curves and a shockingly small waist. Her hair brown fell in cascades down her back, her skin as pale as ever. Her face was perfectly symmetrical and if it weren't for her constant silence and shyness—model agencies would have picked her up by now. Isabella Swan seemed to be the definition of beauty.

On this inside though, she suffered turmoil like no other person would believe. Every night she cried herself to sleep-out of the pain she was forced to keep inside. Her heart simply bled in her chest everyday and she truly believed that no one could ever fix it. Her mother sending her to Forks to live with her father only further deepened her pain.

Finally the morning came for her departure.

"Alright Bella, that's your flight. Be safe." Renee said this as if Bella was too stupid to read the board. Bella scoffed. Everyone always assumed she was some sort of idiot that couldn't read or write. As if her vocal chords being frozen during pre-birth development had a direct affect on her brain. Grabbing her bag quickly before Renee could go all emotional on her, Bella handed the board employee her ticket and climbed on the plane that was going to take her to her own personal hell.

She hated meeting new people, because they always asked questions, ones she couldn't answer. Then as soon as they found out that she was mute, suddenly she wasn't normal anymore. And this drove her insane. Setting her backpack in the overhead compartment she hoped to God that the plane didn't loose the two bags she had checked in at the gate. There was no way she could fit everything she needed for the rest of her life into a simple backpack.

No one had told her, but deep-down Bella knew she'd never be returning to Phoenix. And everything, her entire life, was packed into three suitcases. Though she'd never really gotten into the whole "fashion" thing that most girls did, when you're packing away everything you think your going to need, suddenly clothes seemed to be important.

Renee had given Bella a couple hundred dollars to spend on winter clothes when she arrived in Forks, But Bella didn't plan on buying clothes. She hated shopping above all else. She smirked to herself as she sat down in her seat next to a pale girl with short black hair. Bella immediately knew the girl couldn't have been native to Phoenix, not with that skin. Though Bella knew that she, herself, was quite pale—she knew it was partially because as a child she had no friends to play outdoors with.

As the plane lifted up she furiously tried to hide tears as she bid farewell to the only home she'd ever known. After a few moments of staring out the window she turned to the girl next to her who was also looking out the window. Probably saying goodbye to the sun which the black haired girl hadn't gotten nearly enough of.

Bella watched as the girl picked up a fashion magazine and began reading. Bella couldn't help but look over her shoulder at some of the pictures. She was too lazy to read every small word printed of hundreds to describe a single shoe, but some of the pictures were quite eye catching.

The black haired girl, named Alice Cullen, caught Bella's looking at the pictures and decided that though she wasn't in the best mood that maybe she should introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Alice Cullen." Alice held her hand out to Bella who merely looked at the hand then looked away. Alice couldn't help but think how rude that was, but either way there was nothing to do about it, and she turned back to her magazine, trying to cheer herself up.

Bella meanwhile turned her attention to her most prized possession. Her ipod. It was a few years old, one of those first generation ipod videos that held 30 gigabytes. And sadly Bella had filled it all, she had so much music. Bella smiled, remembering how she had saved for months then finally when the next generation had come out and the price had gone down, she had bought the black ipod and had never left home since without in tucked securely in her pocket or backpack.

For Bella, school had always been hell, and she was sure that starting anew at Forks high would be even worse. She had emailed her dad and told him not to tell anyone that she was mute. She wanted to be as normal as possible for as long as she could. Because as soon as they new she would once again be back to being the class freak.

At this point Alice was getting bored with the magazine, and even though the girl next to her was rude, she needed someone to talk to. "So, what's your name?" Alice tried. When Bella failed to supply any information to this stranger, Alice decided it was best to just talk to the brown haired stranger anyways because they would be stuck on the plane for an hour and a half, and they were both landing in the Seattle airport. "So, I'm Alice, like I said, and I'm a junior at Forks high. I have…" Bella began to tune out the girl who called herself Alice, returning dutifully to her own thoughts.

As a junior herself, Bella couldn't wait to graduate and be rid of everything to do with school. The thought of her future was infinitely more fearful however, because what sort of job could she get? Almost all jobs required communication, and though Bella knew sign language, no one knew that. Not even Renee.

To be frankly honest, Bella loved living in her own little world that no one could penetrate, sure it was lonely sometimes, but for the most part it was a safe place. However, as she had approached puberty her world had gotten more and more crowded with the consuming sadness she couldn't get to subside. All she wanted to do it seemed was either read or listen to music.

Renee grew alarmed when she saw how much Bella had drawn into herself. Bella had even stopped her daily running-something she had thoroughly enjoyed previous to high school.

Bella hated her mom worrying about her, which is what prompted her to hide all of her tears and pain in a mask. A mask greater than silence.

And silence itself can be painful.

And Bella was painfully silent.

AN: Let me know what you think, if I don't get at least a few reviews I won't be continuing this story. Either way I will still continue to work on my others so don't worry.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 2

It wasn't much later that Bella found herself seated next to a certain Charlie Swan in his police cruiser. Having not had the pleasure of viewing his face for the past years, Bella was quite alarmed to notice the grey streaks through his once brown hair and the slight wrinkles occupying his face.

"So Isabella. I figured we could go out to this great Mexican place tonight." Charlie stated this a proven fact, letting Bella know she had no say in the matter. Not that she would have been able to give input anyways.

The rain was already surrounding the car, sneaking in on the edge of Bella's mind as she struggled to hold herself together, not to let her dad see her cry. It wasn't that she hated Mexican food, in fact, she loved it. She was simply appalled that her father assumed that she didn't have anything to say about it.

Leaning back against the headrest she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the horrid rain pounding offensively against the roof. It seemed to Bella that the world hated her. Why else would she be exiled to this place of discontent?

Bella spent the entire car ride in her own little word, and her father knew from experience that no matter how much he talked he would never get any reply—no head nod, no shoulder shrug, no nothing. Charlie had secretly been very excited to finally get to spend some time with his daughter, but now, as cold realization flew at him straight in the face, he came to the conclusion that she really wasn't much company. In fact, she wasn't company at all. Simply a statue.

It didn't take long to arrive at the Mexican place, and yet, as she stepped out of the car, Bella felt like time had passed her completely by.

Charlie obviously wasn't the brightest person in the world because until they sat down and began looking at the menus, it hadn't hit him that Bella couldn't order for herself. Funny enough, he was still pondering how to handle the situation when the waiter returned with a basket of chips and some salsa.

Always impeccably in tune with her surroundings, Bella realized her father's dilemma, and though she hated Forks, she didn't want to hurt her father in any manner. So she simply solved his problem by pointing to the nachos on the menu. She had always loved them, though to the naked eye of the waiter it seemed like she was very unhappy with this choice. He wrote it down however, not wanting to get in trouble for "prying" like he had once before when his ex-girlfriend had simply wanted so revenge.

There was no conversation at that table. And as Bella ate in silence, she knew there never would be.

Meanwhile, though they were only but a few miles apart, it seemed to Alice Cullen that she lived in a separate realm entirely. She got out of Esme's car, running quickly into the waiting arms of her loving brothers, Edward and Emmett. They knew, like always, that she would need their support.

Not one looked like the other, mostly because they were all adopted. Edward's father had left and his mother had died from some sore of undetected heart disease. He'd been told as a young child that it was called Long QT Syndrome, but besides that small factor he had but a single memory of his birth mother. And a sad memory at that.

Emmett's story was quite different than his brother's. Being a year older you would think they actually were siblings, because they certainly acted like it. But Emmett, barely even knew who he was or where he came from. His parents had simply dropped him off on the preacher's doorstep. Though there was a note with him, his parents were never found in a single database, leading everyone to assume that they were felons of a certain sort.

Alice's life contained none of the simplicity that her brothers' lives did. The trip to Phoenix, in fact, had been to attend her last biological relative's funeral. Alice's parents had decided they were simply too lazy to be parents and her father had started doing cocaine when Alice was only but three years old. He died of an overdose not long after. Though her mother had not been prone to drugs or alcohol in the least, after her husband passed away she looked for a way to cope, which turned out to be both damaging to herself and Alice. After she met her unfortunate end when Alice was seven, her aunt had battled for custody, but when she was found unfit to care for a child(for she was bound to a wheelchair for she was unable to walk), she called the Cullen's for help. Alice wasn't particularly close to her aunt, but they did email and call each other often, so her death was quite the blow.

It was as she was heading up the stairs with her bags later that the strange girl on the plane entered her mind. The girl had been so beautiful, but Alice shivered as she remembered the haunted look in the girl's eyes the few times they made eye contact. For whatever reason, Alice couldn't seem to forget the silent girl. She replayed the scene over and over, trying to find some clue as to why she acted the way she did, but as Alice drifted off to sleep, she gave up.

Either way fate had already intervened and neither of them knew it yet, but someday, someday in the near future, things would be much different between them. They may even, one day, be friends.

When Bella reached Charlie's house that evening, she made a beeline straight from the shower. And as soon as she turned on the shower, stripped off her clothes, and stepped in, she broke down into silent sobs.

Sliding down the floor of the shower she let the tears she had been holding back through the entire dinner and car ride slip down her cheeks. She was not looking forward to school the next day, because she knew, with a sense of dread, she would have no friends.

And to make matters worse, she would be walking to school. It wasn't far, only a mile or so, but in the weather Bella knew it would be hell. Her father said he had bought her a car but it was being cleaned and double checked, seeing as he had gotten it second hand.

Bella seemed to want to sink into obliviation. And it was then, when she looked up to let the water wash the tears from her face when she notices the bathroom tiles. They were all perfectly white and square. All but one. The one in the corner was chipped, seeming detached from the rest. Unlike the others it lacked both beauty and perfection in that one single chip. With another silent sob, Bella realized the tile was a lot like her, and like the shower constantly weathered down the tile, so too Bella knew the rain would slowly wear down her.

She pondered this for such a moment she didn't even realize that she had picked up her shampoo bottle, and it alarmed her greatly when she found herself ripping back the shower curtain and throwing it across the floor. Amazingly enough, it landed silently on the towel Bella had dropped carelessly on the floor on her hurry to get in the shower. It was a good thing the towel was there, because it cushioned whatever noise Charlie might have heard, letting Bella have her moment of private thought.

Without another action Bella shut off the shower, put her clothes on, grabbed her ipod and headed to bed.

Even in her nightmares she couldn't scream.

AN: Please Review : )


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 3

Bella woke the next morning to another over-cast day, and her heart lost any refreshment it had gained over the sleepless night.

Bella was unlike other girls her age. While the vast majority of the teenage female population set their alarms to give themselves an hour or two to prepare for school, Bella gave herself twenty minutes. Seeing as she had showered the night before, could care less what she wore, and simply ran a brush through her hair—she really didn't have much to do to get ready. Even though she hadn't even begun the long task of unpacking, it took her less than two minutes to pull on a pair of dark blue jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt. After coating her lips with a simple layer of chapstick, and brushing her long wavy hair out, she walked downstairs to find Charlie eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

She had no idea how beautiful she truly looked. Even in what seemed to be a simple outfit, she had beauty that was truly unmatched in the small town of Forks. Charlie himself would never admit it, but even he was surprised at how Bella had changed. He had noted in the car the night before, in fact, that she was no longer the awkward, gangly child she had been.

The only sounds in the kitchen that morning were that of the rain against the windows and the clock on the walk ticking irritably. Bella poured herself a bowl of cereal identical to her fathers and sat down across from him to eat it.

Charlie had, by this point, come to the conclusion that conversation was futile and pointless, and that he might as well save his breath for someone who actually wanted to talk. Which he did without a problem, it was basically like still living alone.

Five minutes later Bella slipped on her black jacket slipping the hood on and zipping it up halfway. It had been a habit from the time she was a child, to only zip her jacket halfway. She didn't know why she did it, or even where she got it from, it was simply a routine action. Grabbing her ipod and turning on her favorite song, she packed her backpack with the spiral notebooks, binders, and pens that her teachers had required, slipping the apple and granola bar she had snagged from the kitchen for lunch into the front pocket. Then, without a sound, or even a glance back at Charlie, she walked dutifully out into the rain.

To say her walk to school was uneventful would be a lie. Well to Bella it seemed uneventful; she simply listened to her ipod, placing one foot in front of the other. But she was unaware of just how many of her classmates drove by and spotted her. Some wondered if she was a new student, others thought that maybe she was the new office employee they'd heard rumors of, and yet a few, barely noticed her at all.

For Alice Cullen, however, all three of these were untrue. With her brother driving their Volvo, and Emmett riding shotgun, she was forced to ride in the back. They were running late, which tended to be a usual occurrence, because it seemed like every day they were relying on Edward's crazy driving to get them there on time. Today was different however because as Edward began to run a stop sign to make a left turn at an intersection, he almost hit Bella on her way to school.

Edward screeched to a stop, which made Bella jump and turn, her hood falling back from her eyes, enough so that Alice had a moment to recognize the strange girl from the plane before Bella turned and walked on towards school. To say they were all surprised would be an understatement, no one in Forks ever walked to school, because of how unpredictable the weather was.

After a moment Edward finally took a breath and began to drive again. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Alice. "Who was that? I've never seen her before."

Though this question was meant for Alice's ears, it was Emmett who replied. "I don't know dude, but I don't think she likes you dude. Or any of us. She looks like some sort of bitch from hell."

Alice felt a little jolt at this remark, and almost snapped at Emmett as the meaning behind his last words sank in. Who were they to judge? Sure the girl had been rude, but it was no reason to start calling her names. Alice remained silent for the rest of the ride, opting to stay far away from Emmett and Edwards musical debates. These debates were also routine, whether it was classical versus rap, or rock versus hip-hop. There was even the occasional heavy metal versus techno debate. Emmett was all for everything hip and new, the more cussing the better, and Edward, as if he were the negative proton to Emmett's positive, liked things that were a little older and deeper lyric wise.

Music wasn't the only subject matter is which they repelled each other, dating also happened to cause multiple close-to-argumentative conversations between them. Emmett was dating Rosalie Hale, a beautiful, yet profound junior who seemed to be a standoffish person—that is, until you got to know her. It was also, no secret that they'd already engaged in sexual activity, which they both seemed to take for granted—or so Edward argued. Edward had never dated a girl Forks High, he'd only had a short fling once with a girl who was visiting from another town and staying with Jacob Black, our family friend, down on the reservation. That had only lasted two months and they had barely done beyond a peck on the lips. Edward respected women, Emmett did too, but not in the same way that Edward did.

Alice had learned long ago to remain out of these fights, and it was hard for her—because as much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't. Sometimes, even with her brothers, she felt so utterly alone. Edward, Emmett, and Alice were all juniors, but Alice felt as if she'd been in high school for a lifetime already, and all of that lifetime had been devoted to loving Jasper Hale, Rosalie's perfect twin.

She'd never divulge it, but sometimes she dreamed of him and what it would be like to marry him. But it seemed to Alice that all he'd done for the past two and a half years is remain ignorant of her existence. No matter how many times Edward invited him over to play video games or shoot pool, he always found a million places to look—every single one of them somewhere but her.

When they pulled up into the parking lot at Forks high, all thoughts of Bella had managed to flee their heads, remaining forgotten. Even Bella, who almost got hit by their car, had since moved on with her thoughts, all of them circling around the fear of this new school. Just walking in the office door took all the courage she had.

The woman seated at the desk looked up the moment Bella entered, immediately recognizing her to be the new student. With only a total student population of around three hundred, it didn't take her long to know everyone's faces and names. "You must be the new girl." She tried to smile politely, looking down at the stack of papers labeled on her desk. "Isabella Swan is it not? Your father called last week."

Bella didn't nod. She didn't even move her eyes from the woman's face when she reached up to take the papers. The woman was slightly alarmed, and questioned for a fleeting moment her own sanity as she saw what looked like a flash of hurt in the girl's eyes. She knew for a fact that she hadn't said a single thing that could be taken the least bit offensive. By the time she brought herself back to the present Isabella had already left the office, the door swishing to a close silently behind her.

The stack of papers included a class schedule and a map. The map was of little help however because there were no walkways or anything drawn in. Just a bunch of squares, which Bella assumed were supposed to be buildings, labeled with numbers.

Bella glanced at her schedule seeing that Spanish was her first subject. She had learned it to the point where she could think fluently in it back in Phoenix, the only problem was, what use was it if she couldn't speak? She knew that it was the only way to keep up her charade of normality though, so she took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain. Pulling her hood over her eyes once more she put her head down and walked to class.

Perhaps it was a good thing that she was completely unaware of just how many eyes followed her silent form.

AN: Please review! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 4

As Bella dutifully weaved her way between the mobs of desks in the Spanish building, the bell rang, causing her to jump half a foot in the air.

After a moment of regaining her balance Bella unzipped her jacket and stuffed it into her backpack, not caring overly much about it's whereabouts. Next, she pulled out a blue pen and a notebook—oblivious to all those around her. It wasn't until a young man by the name of Mike Newton walked in front of her that she even noticed that anyone else now resided in the room.

Now Mike, while he was not the kindest young man at Forks High school, he was certainly not rude or standoffish. As soon as he had spotted the new girl he had made it his personal goal to make her welcome, and now that he saw her face clearly he swore to himself that she was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. "Hi. I'm Michael Newton." He smiled and held out his hand, his thoughts on asking this gorgeous girl on a date.

His thoughts were so occupied that it wasn't until he'd been holding his hand out for almost fifteen seconds that he realized she hadn't taken it. When Mike looked up he found her eyes to be staring him through, as if she could tell his deepest darkest secrets simply by looking in his eyes. Thinking perhaps she hadn't heard him, he tried again. "I'm Michael Newton. And you are?"

Bella didn't even blink, she simply continued to stare silently into his eyes, which, to be honest, began to make Mike a bit nervous. He was actually quite thankful when the teacher called the class to order not ten seconds later.

Bella thanked any supernatural being that resided above for the fact of individual desks rather than those two person tables commonly found in schools.

Spanish passed fairly quickly. The teacher had merely signed her paper and in order to "keep the new student from getting too embarrassed" had refrained from calling on Bella during class. Bella knew this wouldn't last long, soon enough teachers would be yelling at her for answers.

It wasn't long after she exited the Spanish room that another young man, Erik Yorkie, stopped her, simply for the purpose of saying hello. He, however, received the same response as Mike, a hard stare. Like Mike, Erik planned on asking this new girl out as soon as school didn't overwhelm her anymore.

The day wore on. Some teachers asked her to introduce herself, others simply asked her name, and yet a few didn't say anything at all. Bella had never felt like screaming more in her life. On her way to lunch she chose to follow a beautiful, yet shy, girl named Angela. The girl didn't question Bella, which only served to both of their comfort.

Bella resolved to sit in a seat by herself in the cafeteria, picking a table that didn't look like it would be used. This table happened to reside in the back corner, but either way all eyes were drawn to her. Bella simply took out her apple and leaned back in her chair observing the lunchroom. She felt tears come to her eyes at the though that none of these kids would ever know her in any way shape or form, and as her painful feelings increased, she felt a little like crying—but she resisted the urge, not wanting to be referred to as the drama queen on the first day.

She had never felt so alone in her life, watching all the girls happily discuss boyfriends, shopping, and television shows. If her heart hadn't already been broken it surely would have after just three minutes of sitting in that lunchroom.

It just so happens that at this exact moment Edward and Jasper walked into the cafeteria with Alice hot on their heels. Alice was sympathetic by nature and moved to take the spot across from Bella. Edward moved to follow his sister, for reasons he couldn't quite explain besides the simple fact that he sat with Alice everyday at lunch—a sympathetic move seeing as his sister seemed to only have one or two friends at most. Jasper came to sit down because Edward did. Next came Emmett, then Rosalie. The five of them had never really sat together much before because Rosalie usually sat with her friends with Emmett and Edward and Jasper ate outside on the sunny days, leaving Alice to sit with Angela.

Today was so different from normal, to say the least, yet besides Alice no one really acknowledged Bella until halfway through the lunch hour. And when they did the conversation came to a dead stop. Not only did the notice her, but they also noticed the lack of chatter coming from her mouth, which was strange in Edward's eyes because most teenage girls felt the need to talk incessantly.

After a moment of no one knowing what to say Alice spoke up. "Hey, I'm Alice…we met on the plane?" Alice wasn't really expecting an answer, and Bella wasn't planning on answering. Bella didn't even look up from the speck she was staring at on the table, and with her face down turned Edward, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie had yet to see her face or become aware of her beauty. Of course, they'd all heard rumors of the new girl throughout the duration of the morning, but one can't always believe everything he or she hears.

Bella was trying desperately to hold in her tears while ignoring these beautiful strangers in front of her.

It didn't take long before Edward recognized her and began to try and explain. "Hey, I'm sorry about this morning, Alice really had nothing to do with it so please, if this is about me almost running you over I'm sorry. I'm Edward by the way, Alice's brother." All of the outsiders sitting at the table waited for an answer, an answer that never came.

Bella continued to sit in her own little world, and after a few seconds she remembered the apple she held in her hand and took a bite.

By this point Emmett was tired of the awkwardness so he began another conversation. "Dude, do you guys want to go hang at Marco's Pizza tonight?" Emmett was always thinking about food, a task that was common for most teenage boys.

"Sure, got nothing better to do." Jasper replied. Alice was hanging on his every word and as soon as he said he'd go, she too agreed.

"Yeah, why not?" Edward smiled and looked at Rosalie the only person they hadn't heard from yet.

"Ugh, fine, if you're all going I guess I might as well." Rosalie groaned. Being a vegetarian and health fanatic she wasn't too fond of the greasiness of pizza.

"How about you new girl?" Emmett had been brought up in the Cullen household, and the Cullen parents were very strict on the subject of being polite.

When Bella once again didn't answer Alice's curiosity only grew.

"Dude, she must be stupid or something." Edward said, not really thinking about the implements of his words.

By this point Bella was on the brink of tears. She felt as if no one could hear her silent screams for help. But to her ears they were so loud they drowned out everything else.

Help me! Please! I'm so alone. Her heart begged the Cullen's from inside Bella's solemn chest, but of course, they couldn't hear.

And even though everyone was at the table with her, Bella had never felt so alone.

And no one noticed, when five minutes later, the new girl was no longer in the lunchroom.

AN: Sorry this is shorter than the two previous chapters but I've been so busy lately but I needed to update, please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Chapter 5

It didn't surprise Bella in the least when she found herself in the bathroom shortly after leaving the lunchroom. It was like the place had a gravitational pull to negative emotions.

There wasn't anyone else in the bathroom when Bella got there, and so she decided against sitting in a nasty stall and chose instead to sit in the corner just past the sinks, somewhat out of sight from the door.

She couldn't control the tears as the flowed down her cheeks, and frankly, she didn't try. Everything was hurting so incredibly much. When the bell rang signifying the end of lunch Bella didn't move. She considered briefly the consequences of skipping on the first day, but the thoughts soon flew out her ears as she remembered that the teachers would eventually hate her anyways.

Memories flew in front of Bella's eyes as she took out her ipod and pressed shuffle. She briefly wondered why she even had that first random song on her ipod still. All it did was remind her of things she'd rather forget.

_Flashback_

_It was getting dark and fourteen-year-old Bella was walking home from the store. Her mother had asked her to go pick up a jar of peanut butter. Bella swore that her mother was addicted to the stuff, because every time Renee ran out she would fly into a frenzy and send the closest person out to buy more. And tonight, that happened to be Bella._

_After walking a few blocks, things began to get uncomfortably silent, in fact, Bella hadn't even noticed how dark it was until this point. And it wasn't until she realized she still had five blocks to go that she really panicked._

_And Bella had a right to be panicked because right around the corner of the next building stood a man, a man waiting in silence for his next victim. He had peeked out moments before and seen the young but beautiful girl and was already planning how to coax her into his car waiting halfway down the block._

_Bella walked forward, but stopped when she saw the corner of what looked like a sleeve. And in that moment, that pause, it was enough._

End Flashback

The song ended taking most of its memories with it. Bella had actually been so involved in her music that she hadn't noticed the girl who entered the bathroom.

The girl was beautiful of course, but nothing in compare to Bella. The girl didn't notice Bella; she was too occupied with wiping the tears off her face. Her boyfriend of two years had just broken up with her. But it wasn't like he didn't care; it was just that he found something better. She leaned down into the sink and sobbed like she never had before. Her entire life had been difficult but manageable until this point.

The girl wore no makeup, so she made no effort to try and hinder the tears that flowed. It was then, in that moment, a small thought entered Bella's head, the thought that maybe someone else was hurting too. When the girl looked up into the mirror Bella could almost picture herself in that same position.

Without even thinking Bella stood up, causing the girl to scream when she suddenly saw the figure of a skinny girl rise out of nowhere. It took but a few seconds for the girl to realize Bella's beauty and to wonder why she saw a hint of sadness in Bella's eyes.

Angela looked into the mirror again, and resumed sobbing, almost as if this random stranger wasn't there. And when she glanced up from the sink moments later, Bella was standing next to her, hesitantly reaching an arm out to offer her a tissue from a box that had obviously been of Bella's personal supply.

What happened next was a complete surprise to them both, without even thinking Angela began to pour out her heart. "Why? Why does this have to happen to me? Everything was just starting to come back together after my dad's death and my brother got back from rehab then all the sudden here I am crying my eyes out again. Why'd he do it? We'd been dating for two years and suddenly he decides he's in love with someone else?" She let out a shaky breath. "And then he confesses to never loving me and just wanting a dis-distraction." Angela's voice cracked as she returned to sobbing.

Bella really had no idea what to do. She just stood there. Comforting someone was kind of hard when you couldn't talk. Suddenly, something possessed Bella and she reached out and gently offered the girl a tissue. Knowing that she had often wished for a gesture somewhat similar.

"I just don't understand it." Angela continued, the tissue Isabella had given he was now completely soaked in her tears. Bella sensed this and held out another. "I loved him so much, and all he did was lie."

Bella opened her mouth, begging for words to magically appear, just this once. But all she heard was silence, just like always. Instead she did the only thing she could possibly do, she pulled out another tissue and handed it to the girl she remembered from earlier as being named Angela.

A switch must have gone off in Angela's head because suddenly she jerked her tear stained head up, her eyes meeting Bella's in the mirror. "I'm Angela by the way. I don't believe I've ever seen you before." The tears had slowed a bit, but Angela felt powerless, not knowing how to stop them. Earlier Bella had wondered why Angela hadn't questioned her on the way to lunch, and now she realized it was because Angela had failed to notice Bella.

Bella's ipod chose that moment to switch songs, and when Bella heard the song that was playing she immediately took one of her earpieces out and handed it to Angela who took it hesitantly and placed it in her ear. The song it had changed to was about love and pain but more specifically regretting love and painful lies. It was a slow song, the kind that often sent shivers up the spine of the listener when he or she was in the right mood.

Angela listened patiently, admitting to finding a bit of consolation in the song—knowing the odd and beautiful girl next to her knew why she was upset, and to an extent understood.

Neither of the girls realized how'd long they'd been standing there simply listening to music until the bell rang signifying the end of class. Angela smiled and thanked the beautiful and mysterious girl. "Thanks for listening, you're great at it." She offered a small smile, grabbing a tissue and heading out the door.

As soon as the girl was out of sight Bella grabbed her bag and put her hood up, placing it over her eyes. She had the last hour of the day off and so she decided to start home, since it was obvious that she would never have any reason to stay and socialize.

It was raining heavily outside, as if the earth itself were sad about something. The rain wasn't surprising in any way to Bella but at the same time she pulled her jacket tighter around her body and began to make her way through the parking lot. She was half way through when she felt a strong hand on her arm. Without looking she attempted to pull the offensive limb off of her. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Couldn't they see that no one could help her?

The person attached to the limb cleared his throat, trying to get the girls attention. Instead, she merely pulled harder, refusing to face anyone. Bella had seen herself in the mirror, and though she didn't care about appearances she knew her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were completely bloodshot. And the last thing she wanted was her dad getting wind of this and sending her to some damned psychiatrist—or worse yet sending her back to her mother. It was then that Bella fell a step backwards as Edward pulled on the arm he'd been holding, trying to get the girl to acknowledge him. But this only caused her to pull away more, hunching over so he wouldn't see her face.

Frustrated, Edward gave up on trying to get her to face him and instead started to speak. "Um, hey, um it's raining and well I was wondering if you wanted a ride?" Edward mentally smacked himself, feeling stupid for stating the obvious that it was raining.

Bella was surprised; he was offering to spend time in the car with her? And he didn't even know where she lived! But her surprise wore off within moment however, reality settling back in. She was mute, and she would forever remain so.

"Um usually when someone asks you a question, you, uh, answer." Edward was usually a very patient young man but for whatever reason waiting for this girl to answer was causing him to shift back and forth on his feet.

Edward hadn't realized it but he had since let go of the girl's arm, so when he reached in his pocket and looked up again the girl was running across the parking lot weaving in and out of cars.

Now Edward had never been a religious man but he had always believed in acting like a true gentleman, which suited his stature well. To say this young man was handsome was an understatement; because he was handsome to such an extent the word didn't cover it anymore. Because he had yet to see Bella's gorgeous face (she had kept it faced downwards during lunch and in the car he had been much too distracted with his music and Emmett) he had simply offered her a ride because he was kind at heart. He had noticed she wore nothing more than a hoddie to shield her from the harsh Forks rain and he had taken pity on her—partly because of almost hitting her that morning.

Shrugging he turned back to his car, the thoughts of the girl starting to fade from his mind.

Bella's mind, however, was a different story. Edward crowded her every sense, and her skin felt prickly from where he had touched her. In Phoenix no one had touched her. Even her own mother hadn't hugged her in over eleven years. And to be honest, it was an odd sensation. Bella began scratching desperately at her arm, trying to get the feeling of Edward's hand on her arm to go away.

And it wasn't until she got home that she saw the blood on her fingernails.

Panicked, she ran up to the bathroom and stole a glance at the mess that was her arm. Luckily, her nails had only taken off a bit of skin so she wasn't bleeding all that profusely, but nonetheless she rinsed the cut, ashamed that she did that to herself.

And it was while watching the small amount of blood rush down the drain that everything came rushing back. She wanted to scream No! Don't touch me! But just like years before, it was fruitless, and she collapsed, her body overcome with her always-silent tears.

AN: Sorry for the long wait! Please review!

And for any of you that are interested I would love to see if anyone wanted to make a thirty second to two minute preview on what this story would look like as a movie. You can use clips from other movies and music etc, post it on some Internet site (i.e. youtube) and send me a link because I would love to see it!

Thanks for reading!


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